Catherine Hess, a postgraduate researcher in anthropology at Bournemouth University in the UK, has written an essay in which she discusses the complexities of cycling and she spoke about it with Linda Mottram on 702 ABC Sydney.

"It's really different to any type of movement or locomotion that we do as humans," said Ms Hess.

"Even in a car or an aeroplane our brain isn't required to know where our body is and where our limbs are and what's going on at all times," Ms Hess said.

"When you're in a car or an aeroplane, even if you're using the pedals you're still in a stationary position. You know that your feet are both down out in front of you; you know that your hands are on the wheel. But with cycling that's changing at all times," she added.

Ms Hess's essay cites a case study from the New England Journal of Medicine which includes this video produced by the researchers showing a wheelchair-bound patient with Parkinson's Disease successfully riding a bicycle around a car park.

Ms Hess says that observing the act of riding a bicycle can tell researchers a lot about the human brain.

"I don't think that the current research really understands what's happening when he's on that bicycle," Ms Hess said.

"We don't really know what these abilities are, if they're something primitive or if they're something advanced. It's really one of the great mysteries," she said.

"If researchers can tap into what parts of the brain are really activated during cycling that could lead to potential therapies for Parkinson's, which would be almost revolutionary," she added.